


H y d r o p h i l i c [Free! x Reader]

by LadyLyacaria



Category: Free!
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Comedy, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fanfiction, Gen, High School, Multi, Multiple Endings, Multiple Pairings, Reader-Insert, Romance, Slice of Life, Slow Romance, Swim Club, Swim Team, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-03-17 19:10:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13665471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyLyacaria/pseuds/LadyLyacaria
Summary: Water has always been your favourite element, and your favourite hobby has always been swimming. But ever since your family moved to Japan, you haven't been able to go swimming once and eventually gave up on it. After an unexpected, nightly encounter with one of the members of your school's swim club in the newly renovated swimming pool, however, he and his friends are dead set on getting you to join their club. ☼ ON HIATUS ☼Disclaimer: I do not own Free. I only own the story and the OCs appearing in it.✶Comments are highly appreciated✶





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING! This fanfic is unfinished (as of yet) and has been on hiatus for a long time now. I cannot promise that I will ever finish it, but I still wanted to share it with you, my dear readers. I hope you will enjoy it nonetheless~! ♥

_hy·dro·phil·ic_

_adjective_

_/ˌhaɪdrəʊˈfɪlɪk/_

_of, relating to, or having a strong affinity for water_

* * *

Coming to a halt in a dark shadow below a cherry tree, your friend and you pressed your backs against the rough surface of the wall enclosing the school. The two of you checked your surroundings, with you looking left and her looking right. No one was in sight. You didn’t hear anybody nearby either, whether walking around or approaching your current position. Good. Just as planned (and hoped for).

Without a word, Katsumi tightly folded her hands in front of her stomach, palms turned upwards, and ducked down a little. After you had placed a foot on her hands, she lifted you up with ease. She helped you climb on top of her shoulders first and then onto the wall. All the while, she wasn’t making a single noise, not even a quiet groan.

Once you were safely seated on top of the wall, you paused. You let your [colour]- eyed gaze wander over the school grounds and its buildings. Everything was bathed in the pale light of the moon, creating a thick darkness here and there. At the same time, you strained your ears to make out any kind of noise indicating that someone was close by. Upon hearing nothing, you stretched your hand out for your friend to take which she immediately did, and you pulled her up the wall to sit next to you.

She didn’t linger there for long. In fact, she had hardly sat down on top of the wall before she slid off again, landing on the grass below with a muffled thud. Immediately afterward, she dashed over to a tree, hid behind it, and peeked out. She looked around while you were still sitting on the wall in a crouched posture and patiently waiting for her signal that the coast was clear.

As soon as you saw Katsumi motioning you to follow, you jumped off the wall and quietly ran to the tree she was hiding behind. “The swimming pool is this way,” you told her as you pointed in a certain direction. Your voice was barely above a whisper, but she still understood what you had said and nodded.

“Then let’s go,” she whispered. After one last glance around, she began moving towards your destination through the shadows, with you trailing behind her. You were like ninjas – silent and quick. “We mustn’t lose any time.”

She was right. The longer you were out here, the higher the risk of your parents noticing that the two of you weren’t at home and sleeping in your bed like you had told them you were. You really didn’t want them to find out that you and your best friend had sneaked out in the middle of the night. They would tell her parents right away, and then you two would get into trouble. No thanks. You could do just fine without that.

The next few minutes were spent in silence as the two of you stealthily flitted across the school grounds and towards the school’s recently restored swimming pool. Katsumi and you had climbed the wall at a spot with lots of good hiding places nearby and as close to the pool as possible so that you would get there quickly and easily.

Excitement bubbled up inside you when the swimming pool came in sight. It caused your heartbeat to quicken and a bright smile to appear on your face. If everything continued going smoothly like it had so far, you would soon arrive at the place you had longed to go to for quite a while now and be reunited your beloved water. Just the thought of you swimming again after all this time made your heart flutter in sheer joy.

But as much as you wanted to just break into a run and practically fling yourself into the water, you didn’t let your eagerness get the better of you. You resisted the almost overwhelming urge to throw caution to the wind. You had waited so many years now; you could wait a little longer too.

And then, finally, after what felt like half an eternity to you, Katsumi and you arrived at the swimming pool. The only thing left separating you from the water was the tall, green wire-netting fence surrounding the pool and its locked door. Not wasting any more time, you tried out different large gaps to find safe footing whilst holding onto some wires above you. The fence creaked and rattled loudly when you hung onto it with your whole body weight and slightly bent in your direction.

Carefully, you started climbing the fence, the tip of your tongue poking out between your lips as you fully focused on trying not to slip and fall and instead climbing higher and higher. You didn’t come very far, however.

“[Nickname], wait a moment,” Katsumi suddenly spoke up, snapping you out of your highly-concentrated state and causing you to crane your neck to look at her. She was staring at the fence’s door, her brows knitted. Obviously, she was deep in thought, but you couldn’t figure out why.

“What’s up?” you asked, confused by the thoughtful expression on her face and curious to find out the cause. You had momentarily paused in your movements and were awaiting her answer now, albeit a tad impatiently. You were currently clinging to a wire-netting fence, after all, and it was getting more and more arduous with each passing second she spent not answering you.

“The padlock’s not there,” she said. She didn’t avert her eyes from the door once to look at you.

“What?” Your gaze slowly followed her stretched-out finger pointing to the fence’s door, and, yes, indeed, the padlock wasn’t there, meaning that the door wasn’t locked, and your effort to climb the fence had been for nothing. But … “Don’t they always lock the door after training?”

“Yeah, I thought so too. Hm.” Abruptly, she lifted her head and peered through the large gaps in the wire-netting fence with narrowed eyes.

Following her example, you attentively looked around the pool area, but even from your elevated position, you didn’t see anyone who could have unlocked the door. The pool was deserted, just like it should be at night.


	2. Chapter 2

_hy·dro·phil·ic_

_adjective_

_/ˌhaɪdrəʊˈfɪlɪk/_

_of, relating to, or having a strong affinity for water_

* * *

“Maybe they just forgot today,” you suggested.

“Must be,” Katsumi mumbled, though she didn’t really sound convinced.

“I mean, there’s obviously no one around here who could have unlocked the door,” you went on as you simply let go of the wires, your feet hitting the hard ground a split second later with a heavy thump. “And who in their right mind would go to all the bother of standing up in the middle of the night and more or less breaking into their school just to take a swim in the pool?”

A crooked, amused grin appeared on her lips, and she looked at you. “Apart from us, you mean.”

“Yeah,” you laughed.

She let out a pensive hum. Then, she lifted one of her shoulders in a half-hearted shrug. “Weird, but whatever. I guess you’re right. Let’s go.”

You followed her through the unlocked and now opened fence’s door into the pool area. There, she near-instantly sat down on a folding chair someone had left behind, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I’ll stand guard here, just in case,” she said, leaning back and making herself comfortable in the chair. “Now shoo, go and have fun. I’ll call you when it’s time to go.”

You nodded enthusiastically. The broad grin on your face brought a soft smile to Katsumi’s face. You proceeded to strip off your clothes hastily, leaving them lying on the ground right where you were standing, until you were only wearing your [favourite colour] bikini.

You savoured in the feeling of the chilly air of the night nipping at your bare skin and sending waves of goosebumps all over your body for a couple of seconds. Then, you took a run-up and unceremoniously dived into the water. Small air bubbles were moving all around you, rising towards the surface, dancing, shimmering in the moonlight.

Oh, how you had missed this, how you had yearned for this. This blissful feeling of weightlessness, this complete freedom of moving about like you were flying. You were free of gravity’s bounds – but not of oxygen’s, sadly. You stayed in the water’s cold embrace, staring up at the obscured night sky, until your lungs were screaming for air, until you couldn’t take it any longer. Only then did you return to the surface, gasping for breath. A smile worked its way onto your face.

You had nearly forgotten how much you loved being in the water. The last time seemed to be so very long ago. Four years, to be exact. Four years since you had moved here with your parents, into this country, into this city. Four years of not swimming at all. Four years of you trying to compensate your need to swim by taking part in other sports clubs with Katsumi and soaking in your bathtub from time to time.

To you, it had been – and still was – like a nightmare, being completely deprived of the ability to go swimming whenever you felt like it like you had been able to back in your home country. The public indoor pools here in Japan were constantly crammed full and unsuitable for proper swimming, your former junior high school didn’t have a swim club (much to your chagrin), and you refused to pay a ridiculous fee for the gym.

When you had first heard that your high school – the Iwatobi High School – had its own swimming pool, you had been overjoyed and pretty much on cloud seven. Finally, you would be able to go swimming again. That was what you had thought. On your very first day at this school, you had run straight to the swimming pool – only to watch your world collapse around you like a house of cards upon seeing the desolate, run-down pool and the area around it, along with the dressing rooms and other small buildings, overgrown with grass and weeds.

You had found much needed comfort in your dearly loved water in the bathtub at home right after school. You had occupied the bathroom for one and a half hours spent sulking and stubbornly refusing to get out, which had nearly driven your parents crazy in the process. They had eventually called Katsumi who had managed to lure you out of the bathtub with the promise of pumping up an inflatable swimming pool in the backyard of her house.

Often times, regardless of what time of the year it was – whether it was in the middle of summer or in the depths of winter, you didn’t care –, you went over to your friend’s place to use her rather small pool (which was for kids, by the way). But you didn’t mind, and your parents did neither, as long as you stopped occupying the bathroom for hours on end just to satisfy your desire to be in the water. During these times, Katsumi either sat on a chair nearby or squeezed herself into the swimming pool too.

In second grade, news had come in that some boys wanted to start up a swim club and repair and renovate the swimming pool. Unfortunately, you already were in the school’s kendo club with Katsumi since first grade and couldn’t just change clubs and abandon all your teammates and friends. Thus, you turned to watching the members of the swim club (three boys – one of which was in your grade, but not in your class – and one girl) working hard to fix up the swimming pool from the rooftop of the school every time the kendo training was delayed or cancelled.

Katsumi often accompanied you to the rooftop and sat down next to you on a red blanket she always brought with her, eating snacks, doing her homework, texting her friends or doing everything at the same time. She saw the longing look in your eyes as you gazed at the swimming pool and watched its restoration with your undivided attention.

After it had been officially announced that there now was a swim club at this school, she had been flabbergasted that you didn’t pounce on this perfect opportunity you had been yearningly waiting for, for years and years. She had tried to persuade you to join, but she quickly realized that you were far too loyal to your teammates to leave the kendo club and find happiness in the swim club. Hence, she saw no other option as to coax you into sneaking out at night with her to go take a swim in the school’s pool.

So now, here you were, in the swimming pool of Iwatobi High School, in the middle of the night. Your parents could enter your empty bedroom at every moment, a resident of the nearby neighbourhood could spot you at any given moment and report you to the school and / or the police. But it was totally worth it.

After four years, at long last, you were reunited with your favourite element of all times: water.


	3. Chapter 3

_hy·dro·phil·ic_

_adjective_

_/ˌhaɪdrəʊˈfɪlɪk/_

_of, relating to, or having a strong affinity for water_

* * *

Little did you and Katsumi know, you were, in fact, not alone here. Every single day after training, one of the swim club’s members would attach the padlock to the wire-netting fence’s door and lock it, giving the key to Mrs. Amakata, the supervisor of the club, afterwards.

Today was not an exception either. Contrary to your assumption, none of the club’s members had forgotten to lock the door to the pool area. They indeed had, just like every other day too.

But the one who had had the same idea as your best friend – namely entering the school at the dead of night just to take a swim – owned a spare key to the padlock which he had used to gain access to the pool earlier this night. And he hadn’t left, no. He was still here, in this very pool with you, to be exact. He was hiding motionlessly under water in a dark corner at the far end, having been surprised by Katsumi and you showing up completely unexpectedly at the school’s swimming pool.

Even in his wildest dreams, he would never ever have imagined that someone other than himself would readily sacrifice a few hours of precious sleep and come here to go swimming in the cold water. He had always thought that he was the only one who loved water so very much. But apparently, he had been wrong. Needless to say, he was intrigued because of that, and thus he had decided to stay hidden to watch the two newcomers – fellow students, he guessed – unnoticed.

Especially you, the girl with [length] [colour] hair, had sparked his interest. His sapphire eyes were fixated on your form as you were swimming laps. Your movements were skilled and graceful, albeit not as lithe, as if you hadn’t swum in a long time. But by just watching you swim, he knew that you had years of experience. It made him wonder why you weren’t part of the swim club. You would complement the club perfectly. And maybe you really would turn out to be a like-minded person he could talk to about his beloved water.

“Oh my god, [Nickname], watch out! There’s someone in the pool!” Katsumi called out all of a sudden. You heard the folding chair scrape loudly across the floor and topple over as she jumped to her feet. This noise drew your attention immediately and, along with your friend’s shout, caused you to stop dead in your tracks.

With your heart racing, you frantically looked around, spotting a shadowy figure in an especially dark corner of the pool. They were slowly emerging from the water like a vengeful water sprite. Your eyes widened at this frightening sight, and you could barely hold back the scream that threatened to escape your lips, pressing a hand to your mouth as you were frozen to the spot. Where the hell had they come from, out of thin air or what? And who – or maybe even what were they?!

Just then, clouds moved in front of the moon and partially covered it, plunging the night into more darkness and making this situation worse. And at the same time, as if to top it all, the figure started moving. Right towards you. They were gliding through the water, ghost-like, without making a sound and without saying something either. It freaked you out, to say the least.

Something whizzed past you and hit the water in front of you with a splash, missing the shadow person by a hair’s breadth and causing them to recoil from the folding chair in surprise.

This gave you enough time to escape, and in next to no time, you were out of the swimming pool. You had never moved so fast in your life before. With adrenaline pumping through your veins, you scrambled to your feet and rushed over to Katsumi whose cerulean eyes were full of determination, face distorted into a mask of fury.

“Stay the fuck away from [Nickname], you filthy bastard!” she snarled, baring her teeth at the figure who had begun moving again. She then grabbed your free hand (you were holding your clothes you had just picked up in the other) and ran with you out of the pool area and towards the wall. She didn’t bother to stay in the shadows or even keep quiet.

While Katsumi was scaling a tree near to the wall, you hastily slipped into your clothes, not caring about the fact that your bikini instantly soaked them. All you did care about right now was getting far away from that creepy shadowy figure and home as quickly as possible.

The moment you were fully dressed, you seized hold of your friend’s hand and climbed the wall with her help. The two of you jumped off the wall simultaneously and hurried home, running through the quiet, empty streets illuminated by street lamps helping you find your way through the neighbourhood. In a very few houses, the lights were on – after all, the majority of people was asleep, unlike Katsumi and you.

After some minutes, you two finally reached your house, exhausted and out of breath. It was pitch dark inside, and there were no parents waiting for you at the front gate with a scowl on their faces, a reproachful look in their narrowed eyes, and their arms crossed over their chests. At least you had been lucky with this part of your night-time trip; your parents hadn’t noticed you two being gone. The other part – not being noticed by anyone else – clearly had failed. Whoever that person in the pool had been, you sincerely hoped you would never run across them ever again.

This wish of yours would not be fulfilled, however, you had to realize that very soon.


	4. Chapter 4

_hy·dro·phil·ic_

_adjective_

_/ˌhaɪdrəʊˈfɪlɪk/_

_of, relating to, or having a strong affinity for water_

* * *

The next morning at school, your best friend and you were sitting in your classroom. Both of you were drinking an energy drink you had got from a vending machine on your way here to make up for your lack of sleep and give yourself an energy boost.

“Who in the name of fuck was that?” Katsumi asked, staring at the can in her hands, a frown wrinkling her forehead. She was in a bad mood because of the weird incident at the swimming pool with whom she claimed was a pervert, and because she had slept badly due to said incident.

“My guess is that it was someone from the swim club,” you said thoughtfully before taking a sip from the [flavour] energy drink.

She looked up at you, her furrowed eyebrows relaxing. “Because of the unlocked door?”

You hummed in affirmation. “Yeah. Maybe I was wrong, and they didn’t forget to lock the door. Assuming the door indeed was locked, that person in the pool – whoever they were anyway – was able to unlock it, and they most likely did so with a key.”

She slowly nodded to herself. “And the only ones who have access to a key are the ones from the club,” she added, carrying on your train of thought.

“Exactly.”

After a couple of moments of saying nothing and continuing to blankly stare at the can, the frown was back on her face. “If I find out which guy from the swim club that was and come across him, I’m gonna punch him.”

Upon hearing this, you choked on a mouthful of your drink. As you struggled to get your breath back, you broke into a coughing fit. “What?!” you wheezed, your voice (and coughs) muffled by the hand covering your mouth, though you still earned funny looks from a few classmates nearby.

Katsumi leaned over and patted you on the back repeatedly until you stopped coughing. Only then did she answer matter-of-factly, “He scared the crap out of you.”

“That’s no reason to punch him!” you hissed at her. “I’m pretty sure he didn’t even do it on purpose! Plus, you already threw that chair at him and almost hit him. I think that’s enough.”

She seemed to ponder over your argument and then lifted one shoulder in an indifferent shrug. “I guess you’re right.”

Rolling your eyes, you muttered, more to yourself than to her, “Of course I am.” You turned away from your friend who was frowning again and piercing the can in her hands with a glare. (She probably was imagining the can to be that nameless guy from the swim club.)

“That doesn’t mean I’m not mad at him anymore – whoever he was anyways,” she said, but you chose to ignore that.

You placed your elbow on the table in front of you, rested your chin in your hand, and looked out the window whilst sipping at your energy drink every few seconds and waiting for the teacher to show up.

Seconds later, the door to the classroom was slammed open, startling nearly everyone, including Katsumi and you. The loud noise caused you to jerk your head in the door’s direction. There stood a boy with jet-black hair and bright blue eyes which were darting back and forth, scanning the whole classroom, and eventually locked with yours.

The boy strode over to you, past your confused and curious classmates, and stopped in front of your desk. He didn’t break eye contact with you once. “[First name] [Last name]?” he asked to which you responded with a tentative nod. “Join the swim club.” This wasn’t a request, this was an order.

“A ‘please’ wouldn’t hurt, would it?” Katsumi huffed, but the boy completely ignored her and kept his eyes incessantly trained on you.

“Um,” was all you could say to that, having been thrown off guard by both his sudden appearance and unexpected question. Looking him up and down, you recognised him as one of the swim club’s members – the vice-captain Haruka Nanase, to be precise. He was one year older than you and, as indicated by the green colour of his tie, in the third grade.

Several questions popped up in your head at once. Had he really come here just to ask (order) you to join the swim club? Why now, and so suddenly too? And why you of all people? But the most important one was: How did he even know your name? You had never talked to him before, only watched him and the other swim club members from the rooftop on some days. You knew nothing more about him than his name. So how did he know yours?

Unless … “It’s you?!” you exclaimed and abruptly stood, pointing at him. As soon as you noticed your classmates looking at you with raised eyebrows, you smiled sheepishly at them and sat back down. Lowering your voice, you harshly whispered to Haruka, “You almost scared me to death back there!”

“Don’t say he’s the guy from the pool!” Katsumi cut in, anger written all over her face. She looked like she was close to carrying out her threat of punching him after all.

Haruka’s eyes flickered over to her, only for a brief moment, as though he became aware of her presence just now. Then, he focused his eyes on you again. “Sorry about that. I wanted to ask you to join the club, but you ran away.”

“Who wouldn’t!” Katsumi retorted. You weren’t sure if she was angry because of yesterday night’s incident or because Haruka was blatantly ignoring her. Probably a mixture of both. “You just showed up out of thin air like some scary water monster! What were you even doing there?”

“I could ask you the same question,” Haruka replied.

“I strongly assume that he was doing the same as me, taking a midnight swim,” you said in a whisper, not wanting the entire classroom to hear what you had been doing at night. Most of your classmates were already staring at the three of you anyway, with a spark of curiosity in their eyes. “Please calm down, Katsu.”

With a huff, she crossed her arms over her chest and proceeded to look daggers at Haruka. Well, she hadn’t exactly calmed down, but at least she had stopped verbally taking out her bad mood on him.

He paused for a moment or two and then repeated his request, “So, are you going to join the swim club?”


	5. Chapter 5

_hy·dro·phil·ic_

_adjective_

_/ˌhaɪdrəʊˈfɪlɪk/_

_of, relating to, or having a strong affinity for water_

* * *

Before you could answer, the door to the classroom was, once more, forcefully opened. Someone cried out in a whiny voice, “Haru-chan, don’t just leave me behind! Why are you in such a hurry? That’s not even your classroom!” The next thing you knew, a boy about your age and height was clinging to Haruka’s side who was looking as expressionless as ever.

The boy – who was, as you recalled, another member of the swim club and called Nagisa Hazuki – seemingly took no note of Katsumi and you (or anyone else for that matter). He was too occupied with tugging at Haruka’s sleeve. “Let’s go, Haru-chan! The lesson is about to begin, and I don’t want to be late!”

But no matter how much effort Nagisa put into trying to drag Haruka with him and out of the classroom, the swim club’s vice-captain didn’t move a single inch at all as if he was rooted to the spot. In fact, he didn’t even seem to notice that someone was pulling at his arm with all their might. He was completely and utterly unfazed, whereas his fellow club member Nagisa was already pretty much digging his heels into the floor.

“You will get this if you join,” Haruka said, ignoring Nagisa and continuing with his attempts to convince you to join the swim club. He held up a small bird … thing made of wood hanging from a key chain.

This caused Nagisa to pause, temporarily abandoning his (desperate) efforts to get his friend out of this classroom. He looked at Haruka first. Then, his magenta eyes wandered over to you, a quizzical look in them. “Oh? Are you a new member of our swim club?”

“No, I’m n–”

A big, wide smile lit up his face, and he brutally cut you off mid-sentence, “Nice to meet you! I’m Nagisa Hazuki! What’s your name?”

You breathed an exasperated sigh, wondering if he had even noticed that you had tried to speak up. “[First name] [Last name]. Nice to meet you too, Nagisa-kun,” you answered him nonetheless, adding “I guess,” under your breath.

“Call me Nagisa-chan!” he chirped.

Haruka moved the bird closer to you so that it was dangling right in front of your nose and staring at you with its soulless, black-and-yellow eyes, as though to remind you that you still hadn’t given him an answer.

“Thanks a lot, but no thanks,” you declined both his request and his offer of the bird key fob, smiling slightly. “I’m part of a club already.”

It wasn’t like the prospect of going swimming every day after school left you cold. Quite the opposite, to be honest. It would be like a lifelong dream come true. But you refused to ditch your friends in the kendo club, even if it meant that you would resort to paying the school’s swimming club a visit in the middle of the night from time to time and risk getting caught by either your parents or someone else.

Alas, Haruka was persistent. He had seen your natural talent for swimming, and your love of water. He couldn’t just give up on you so easily – and he sure as hell wasn’t going to. He was determined to get you to join the swim club. “You can change clubs,” he thusly said.

“But I won’t,” you answered as you defiantly crossed your arms in front of your chest and narrowed your [colour] eyes at him.

“Why not?”

“Don’t even try to convince her to join the swim club,” Katsumi chipped in, looking at Haruka and Nagisa. She had followed your conversation with the boys closely thus far, an amused smile playing about her lips, but now she heaved a sigh. “It’s a waste of time and effort, trust me.”

“Damn right,” you firmly said with a brisk nod of your head. “I’m not gonna change clubs. So you better give up now and save yourself the trouble.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” a female voice spoke behind you, and you turned around to see one of your friends from the kendo club, Yurino Kawazura, sitting down at the desk behind yours, “but you better continue your talk later. I passed Itomine-sensei on my way here.”

“Yeah, let’s go already, Haru-chan!” Nagisa piped up and began tugging at Haruka’s arm again. “I don’t wanna be late for class! And I bet you don’t wanna be either!”

“I’ll come here again during lunch break,” Haruka said to you. With this solemn face of his, it somewhat sounded like a threat. He then let himself be dragged away by Nagisa who called out, “See you, [Name]-chan!”, soon disappearing in the hall.

Katsumi looked over to you – she had followed the two boys with her teal eyes – and grinned slyly. She raised an eyebrow suggestively which you answered with another roll of your eyes. “Wow, looks like there’s someone keen on getting you to join the swim club.” The grin promptly vanished from her lips and was replaced by a slight frown. “But let me guess, you still won’t change your mind, huh?”

“Nope,” was your curt answer, causing her to sigh heavily.

At this moment, the teacher Mrs. Itomine finally entered the classroom and walked over to her desk at the front. After she had exchanged greetings with the students, she started to set up the teaching material for today’s first lesson.

You leaned closer to Katsumi and whispered, “I already told you, I’m not gonna switch to the swim club. Stop trying to make me.”

“But you want to, don’t you?” she countered in a quiet, yet firm voice, fiercely staring at you. “I know you do, deep down in your heart. Don’t try to lie to me. You love swimming with every single fibre of your being, after all. But you just don’t know what’s good for your own self. It’s frustrating!”

Mrs. Itomine cleared her throat, and Katsumi and you immediately sat upright on your chairs and gave her an apologetic smile. She shook her head a little, smiling softly. “Well then, dear students, let’s start with the lesson. I hope you’ve all read the pages I told you to. Open your books at page 67. We’ll continue with last lesson’s topic.”


	6. Chapter 6

_hy·dro·phil·ic_

_adjective_

_/ˌhaɪdrəʊˈfɪlɪk/_

_of, relating to, or having a strong affinity for water_

* * *

Merely a minute after the lunch break had begun and your teacher Mr. Matsumoto had left the classroom, Haruka showed up, like he had announced (threatened) he would. But he didn’t come alone. Nagisa was with him, along with two other boys – the captain of the swim club, Makoto Tachibana, and another member, Rei Ryugazaki. Nagisa had told the latter two about you, and now they were all curious as to why Haruka was so determined to persuade a certain female 2nd grade student to join their club.

“You’re back,” you stated the obvious, deadpan, and ate a piece of food from your bento box.

The warm smile on Makoto’s lips reached his green eyes as he gazed down at you. “You’re [Name]-san, right?”

You nodded, returning his smile. “Yeah.”

“I’m Makoto Tachibana, and this is Rei Ryugazaki,” he said, pointing to the bespectacled boy with striking blue hair next to him. “It’s nice to meet you. Nagisa already told us a bit about you.”

“And I’m Katsumi Hayashi, [Nickname]’s best friend and the one who’s tried to convince her to switch over to your swim club many times and always failed.” Katsumi grinned mischievously. “But maybe the four of you will be able to achieve what I couldn’t.”

You shot her a sidelong glare. But this only seemed to contribute to her amusement as shown by her grin growing wider. “Katsu, don’t,” you quietly growled.

“Let’s go sit outside and talk there!” Nagisa said in a cheerful tone. “The sun’s shining, and it’s warm!”

“Nice idea, but I don’t really think that’s necessary,” you replied. “I already said that I’m not gonna change clubs, and I’m not gonna change my opinion either, no matter what you say or try to do. That’s all I have to say about this.”

He pursed his lips in a pout. You almost weren’t able to suppress a squeal. He looked adorable, like a cute little child sulking because he didn't get his way. You suddenly felt the urge to pinch his puffed-up cheeks and squeeze him in your arms, but that would be bad-mannered and inappropriate – and probably make him think that you had given in to his wish, which you definitely hadn’t.

“Hon, I’ve got the strong feeling that Haruka-senpai won’t be so easily put off by your stubbornness, because he seems to be just as stubborn as you. I bet he’ll continue standing here even if you refuse to speak to him or even acknowledge him,” Katsumi argued. She was doing her best to talk you into spending time with the swim club’s members, in hopes of getting your resistance to crumble. You knew very well what she was trying to do. The smirk that was still on her lips gave her away. And you were afraid that it would work.

Thus, being the stubborn girl you were, you shrugged and plainly said, “If that’s what it’s gonna be, so be it. I don’t care.” And then you continued eating your bento, ignoring the feeling of both Katsumi’s and Haruka’s eyes boring into your skull. You couldn’t help but grin a little when you heard your best friend groan in sheer exasperation.

“Well then, if that doesn’t convince you, then what about this? I’m pretty sure that Haruka-senpai’s friends will keep standing here too, at least until the end of lunch break, and they’ve got nowhere to sit down to eat. You don’t want that, do you?”

Now she’d got you. You could be as stubborn as a mule without doubt, but you weren’t rude. You didn’t want the others to stand around for ages and not be able to eat their own bentos because of Haruka and you. With a sigh, you stopped eating and put the lid back on your bento box. “Yeah, whatever. Let’s go outside then.”

“Great!” Nagisa linked arms with you, winding his arm around yours like a vice, and you instantly knew there was no escape from his grasp, not until he would let go of you on his own accord. You already kind of regretted your choice to relent.

While still holding onto your bento box, you were pulled out of the classroom and down the hallway by the zestful swimmer, with Katsumi and the rest of the swim club in tow. A few minutes later, you came to an abrupt stop below a big cherry tree in the schoolyard and were forced to sit down on the grass right next to Nagisa, and only then, he released you.

Rubbing over your arm where he had gripped you, you watched the others sit down near you, forming a circle, and open their bento boxes. “What is it you so desperately want to talk to me about?” you asked the swim club’s members as you went back to eating.

“I, for one, would like to know how you know Haruka-senpai,” Rei said. “I’ve never seen you with him before.”

“That’s because we only just met,” you answered vaguely. You really hoped that no one would ask where or when you had met – “He suddenly showed up while I was taking a midnight swim in the school’s swimming pool and scared the shit out of me,” would be too embarrassing for you to say.

“And how did you meet?” Makoto asked the question you had dreaded to hear. “There must’ve happened something really significant to make him so interested in you.”

“We … were swimming together.” Sort of, at least. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either. But you wouldn’t tell the latter. “But honestly, I don’t know what made him follow me around and pester me to join the swim club. You have to ask him that.”

Everyone, including yourself, looked over to Haruka who was, in turn, staring solely and intensely at you whilst eating, with his trademark blank face. He didn’t answer and instead said, for what felt like the umpteenth time: “Join the swim club.” What the heck was he expecting? That you would give him another answer than “no” at some point? Was he hoping for that to happen?

“I already told you. No, I won’t,” you said, emphasizing the last three words as you stared back at him, just as firmly.

“Why not?” the swim club’s members chorused, drawing an annoyed groan from you.

“Because,” you drawled, “I’m in a club already.”

“I changed clubs too. That should be no problem. I’m sure your supervising teacher will allow it as well, [Name]-san,” Rei objected, but was immediately afterwards silenced by your glare. Casting his eyes downwards, he preoccupied himself with eating.

“That might be, but I will not do that,” you insisted and unconsciously stabbed a rice ball in your bento box with your chopsticks as you stressed the word ‘not’. “I won’t ditch my friends and teammates.”

All of a sudden, a wolfish grin spread over Katsumi’s lips. She exchanged meaningful looks with the four swimmers, giving rise to a funny feeling in your stomach.

You eyed them suspiciously with furled eyebrows, but they all had an equally inscrutable expression on their faces. “Whatever y’all are planning on doing, don’t. I’m not changing clubs, and that’s it. Just accept it already and get on with your lives. You surely got better things to do than to constantly bug me.”

“It’s for your own good, hon. Believe me,” your friend said, her voice foreboding, and it only added fuel to your presentiment that she would do something to break down your resistance and pass over your refusal to join the swim club.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is, as of yet, the last (complete) chapter I've written; the next one is far from finished.

_hy·dro·phil·ic_

_adjective_

_/ˌhaɪdrəʊˈfɪlɪk/_

_of, relating to, or having a strong affinity for water_

* * *

“By the way, in which club are you, [Name]-san?” Rei suddenly asked, snapping you out of your thoughts about what kind of plans Katsumi could have in mind. “You never specified that.”

“I’m in the kendo club, along with Katsu,” you responded with a slight nod towards her and stuffed a delicious piece of food into your mouth.

“You should come watch us train some time!” Katsumi added.

You quirked an eyebrow at her, slightly confused by her strange suggestion. “What are you talking about? They can’t come to our training. They’re training at the same time as us, idiot,” you chuckled.

You had barely finished talking when Makoto said, smiling, “That’s a very good idea.”

Did you hear that right? He couldn’t have possibly agreed with Katsumi … could he? You turned your head to look at him, both eyebrows raised now. “Uh, what? But –”

“Yeah!” Nagisa exclaimed, interrupting you. He immediately jumped at your best friend’s proposal to attend your club’s training. “We’ll definitely come watch! Where’s the kendo club?”

“I think it’s near the sports ground, right?” Rei asked.

Katsumi gave an affirmative nod. “There’s a sign next to the door, you can’t miss it.”

“We’ll come watch today, after school!” Nagisa declared, and his teammates all nodded in mutual agreement.

“But you’ve got –”

Once again, you were interrupted – or rather: ignored. Grabbing their bento boxes, the swimmers swiftly stood up and bowed or waved to you before heading back to the school building, leaving you sitting there with your mouth open as your attempts at getting a word in edgeways had all failed.

“Bye, [Name]-chan and Katsu-chan!” Nagisa joyfully called to Katsumi and you.

“Who gave you the permission to call me Katsu-chan?! Sure wasn’t me!” your best friend shouted after him, but she was ignored too.

Moments of silence passed as you tried to process what just had happened. You closed your mouth, shook your head lightly, and looked at your friend who had a smirk on her lips whilst returning your gaze. “That was your plan from the beginning, huh? Clever,” you remarked.

“Thanks,” she grinned. Then, she moved to sit next to you and let herself fall backwards onto the grass, with her arms folded behind her head to use them as a pillow. “They’re all pretty nice, aren’t they?”

“Says the one who wanted to punch one of them,” you retorted. “But yeah, you’re right.” You sealed the now empty bento box and laid down as well, looking up at the light pink-coloured canopy of the cherry tree. “You better not say something like, ‘they’d make good teammates.’ Yes, they would, but that still won’t make me change clubs.”

Katsumi’s chest visibly rose and fell again when she exhaled a deep, long sigh. “I really don’t understand you. You’re practically obsessed with water.” She rolled over on her side, facing you, and propped herself up on her elbow. “You got freaking depressed when you saw the desolate state of our swimming pool! Yet you stubbornly refuse to join the swim club!” And there she went, getting worked up about your decision again.

Imitating her sigh, you zoned out. This wasn’t the first time she tried to talk you out of your decision to stay in the kendo club. Now that you had caught the entire swim club’s attention (unfortunately), it definitely wouldn’t be the last time. She had been so damned close to giving up, but now there were four others trying to persuade you to join the swim club.

You see, your dilemma was that, on one hand, you wanted to join the swim club, just like Katsumi kept saying. Truth be told, you were inwardly dying to take up your once favourite pastime again. There hadn’t been a single day during these four years of withdrawal that you hadn’t mourned your loss of the ability to go swimming whenever you felt like it (and that was pretty much every day).

But! And here came the one and only reason that was holding you back. But on the other hand, you just didn’t want to leave the kendo club. Over the course of a year and a little more, you had become like a small, tight-knit community, and you were more or less good friends with every one of your teammates. You refused to leave them.

The annoying feeling of someone continuously poking your cheek pulled you out of your troubled thoughts (again). You swatted Katsumi’s hand away and squinted at her from the corner of your eyes. “What?”

“You’re not listening to me,” she stated.

“Yeah,” you admitted without batting an eye. “Look, you know exactly why I won’t and can’t switch over to the swim club, Katsu. So stop trying to make me, will you?”

She stuck her tongue out at you – an action which you didn’t hesitate to mimic, causing both of you to grin at each other. “And you, dear [Nickname], know exactly why I won’t do that. Sorry not sorry.”

“I was afraid you’d say that. You’re persistent, you know that?”

“Look who’s talking,” your friend snickered. “If you’re really so determined to stay in the kendo club, you surely won’t be bothered by my attempts to persuade you otherwise.”

“That’s right. No matter what you’ll do – what you’ll try to do, I won’t change my mind.”

“We’ll see about that.” She stood up and, after dusting off her school uniform, held her hand out towards you. “C’mon, let’s go back. The next lesson begins in a few minutes.”

You took her hand and let her pull you to your feet, and together, you returned to your classroom where you found the small, wooden bird-shaped key fob sitting on your desk. Haruka had most likely placed it there (for whatever reason, and although you had politely declined his offer) while you had already been dragged away by Nagisa.

With a small smile, you stowed away both your bento box and the key fob in your briefcase and sat down at your desk.

“How was lunch with the swimmers?” Yurino asked.

“Pretty uneventful,” you answered as you turned around in your chair. “Though now I’ve got four more of Katsu’s kind, desperately trying to change my mind and all that stuff.” You leaned over to her and fake-whispered, “I think they’re plotting against me.”

Arching an eyebrow, she glanced over to Katsumi who was listening to your conversation. “Oh?” She leaned closer to you, grinning. “And what makes you think that?”

“Katsu exchanged looks with the guys and then acted pretty creepy, saying stuff like, ‘It’s for your own good, hon. Believe me,’” you said, imitating your best friend’s voice which made Yurino giggle.

“It is for your own good,” Katsumi emphasized.

You turned to face the classroom’s front again and began arranging your notes for the next lesson. “We’ll see about that, though I’m not so sure.”

She gasped. “Are you implying that I would ever dare to do something that’s not for your own good?” Faking hurt, she placed a hand upon her chest. “Oh, how you wound me, [Nickname]!”

A lopsided grin tugged at a corner of your mouth. “Not at all. But the way you do it can be … a little insensitive at times.”

“Heh, I guess that’s true,” she said. “But sometimes you just need a little push in the right direction, and that’s what I’m here for, hon.”

“It makes a great difference whether it’s just a ‘little push’ or a shove. And what you are doing right now seems more like a shove to me, if not a thrust.”

She shrugged. “The outcome stays the same. And it’ll make you happy.”

All you could do was roll your eyes in part mock, part genuine annoyance, albeit grinning at the same time, because in that moment, the door to the classroom opened, and Mr. Akiyama entered. Without delay, he began with the lesson, although he hadn’t even set down his briefcase yet.


End file.
